DAYTONA BEACH -- Congresswoman Sandy Adams brought her message of fiscal austerity here on Friday and sought some political points at the president's expense in noting the one-year anniversary of his Recovery Summer "flop."

The "Recovery Summer," for those who might have forgotten, was a campaign by the Obama administration to defend federal stimulus spending. Adams, a Republican from Orlando who was the featured speaker Friday at a Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Daytona State College, used the rosy predictions that accompanied that campaign as evidence of its failure.

Her office even put out a news release to mark the date.

"Last summer President Obama promised that his trillion-dollar stimulus would lead the country towards economic recovery, but one year later it's evident that the stimulus has only led the country into astronomical debt and even higher unemployment," Adams said.

She was elected in November to the District 24 seat that represents parts of Volusia, Orange, Seminole and Brevard counties.

The country needs to rein in spending, Adams argued, adding that Washington is out of touch with the rest of the country.

"How many of you have been to D.C. lately?" she asked the crowd of about 40 people. "Have any of you noticed anything in that beltway like foreclosures or the unemployment rate or any of that? It's so much different.

"That's why we always want to come home. Because we recognize here is the reality," Adams said. "We've got buildings up there that are just gorgeous. Don't get me wrong, I think they're beautiful. But it's not indicative of what's going on in our country. You go out to our communities. You've got the foreclosures; you've got the unemployment. It's federal spending."

To be fair, even last year many economists questioned whether the stimulus would be enough to get the job done. Many local teachers and other government workers didn't lose jobs because of stimulus funds that trickled to the states.

And local business interests -- some represented at Friday's meeting -- benefited from the $10.3 million Dunn Avenue extension over Interstate 95 that was more than half paid for with stimulus dollars.

Still, Adams' message resonated with her audience of mostly businesspeople.

"There's some strong decisions Congress is going to have to take, especially about the debt limit and Medicare," said Jim Cameron, vice president of government relations for the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce. "The numbers just don't add up."

On Medicare, Adams defended the plan put forward by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and criticized Democrats for trying to politicize the issue by saying the vouchers used in Ryan's plan would effectively change the nature of Medicare. She said if Democrats don't like Ryan's plan, they should bring forward their own.

Democrats have the Affordable Care Act, and many Republicans got a boost at the polls in November by criticizing the cost-control measures in what they termed "Obamacare."

Either way, Adams said, the system has to be reformed to be saved.

"It's not a Republican or Democrat issue," she said. "It's an American issue."